“Ah, shit. That’s right . . . you don’t know. A few nights ago our daywalker teams took out Opus’s inner circle, just like we planned. That’s the good news.”
Damned good news, but Darion couldn’t appreciate it when his blood was running cold in his veins. “What’s this got to do with Rogues and the Ancient attacking the colony?”
“One of our Opus targets in Prague was already dead when our teams deployed. It was pretty clear the Ancient got to him before we could. The guy had a storeroom full of Red Dragon. Most of it had been removed. We didn’t know why until Jenna’s vision. Darion, the Ancient’s got an army of Rogues behind him. They wiped out the entire colony in a matter of minutes.”
Holy hell.
“He’ll be heading for Selene next,” Darion said, dread strangling him. “He’s got three crystals, Gideon. She can’t stand against that kind of power. Not for long.”
Gideon was silent for a moment. “That’s not just concern for a crystal I hear in your voice, is it?”
Darion swore. “I have to warn her what’s coming. Damn it, I need to be there with her right fucking now.”
“Then you’d better get your ass to Rome ASAP.”
“Why?”
“Because that’s where everyone’s going to be landing in about an hour from now. As soon as we learned what Jenna saw, and realized the Ancient would be moving on Selene’s crystal next, we mobilized. We can’t let him get another crystal, but equally important, none of us were going to leave you out there without backup.”
Darion let out a breath. “The D.C. unit’s on the way as we speak?”
“Not just D.C.,” Gideon said. “The Order as a whole. Every team we’ve got in every corner of the world. Plus Zael and our other Atlantean friends. We’ve all got your back, Dare.”
He could hardly believe what he was hearing, although he supposed it shouldn’t surprise him. The Order was a brotherhood, a family. His family.
Still, the relief and gratitude that poured through him was deeper than he could ever hope to put into words. Yet it didn’t fully erase his worry.
“It’s not my back I’m concerned about, Gideon. It’s Selene’s.”
“I had a feeling you might say that. If the Atlantean queen means that much to you, then that makes her the Order’s priority too.”
With thankfulness for his friends and family bolstering him, he couldn’t help but think about his parents. They hadn’t left his mind for a minute since he’d been gone, and now he was almost terrified to ask.
“Gideon . . . about my father . . .”
The sigh on the other end of the line wasn’t reassuring. “He’s not good, Dare. Lucan hasn’t fed all this time. He’s refusing your mother’s blood out of fear of injuring her, and he also knows that drinking from her will only worsen his thirst.”
The hopelessness carved him open inside. “Isn’t there anything that can be done for him?”
“I’m sorry, Darion. We’re keeping Lucan as comfortable as we can. Your mother too.”
Darion couldn’t recall ever hearing Gideon speak with such careful moderation in his voice. He hated sensing defeat in the usually optimistic, innovative warrior. Gideon had never met a problem he couldn’t solve.
But not this time.
Darion refused to believe it. He refused to accept that his formidable father, the Order’s indomitable founder and leader, could possibly be beaten by an insidious disease. There had to be a way to save him.
Damn it, he wasn’t about to give up on that hope.
“You’d better get moving,” Gideon said. “I’ll alert the teams that you’ll be waiting for them in Rome.”
Darion nodded, corralling his thoughts around the fight he personally still had to face. Not only the battle against the Ancient and his army of Rogues, but the battle to prove himself to the woman he loved.
“I’m on my way,” he told Gideon, ending the call.
Erasing the evidence from the phone, he then woke the human from his trance and disappeared into the darkness.
CHAPTER 42
